Foreign minister to lead delegation to UN Summit

Manama

Foreign Affairs Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa will lead the Bahraini delegation at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit, to be held from September 25 to 27 at New York, Undersecretary for International Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa confirmed.

Addressing media yesterday, he stated Shaikh Khalid would also address the summit on September 25. Social Development Minister Faeqa bint Saeed Al Saleh will also be part of the delegation, said Dr. Shaikh Abdulla.

He said Bahrain has achieved most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which would be the core agenda of the summit. The achievement is a reward for building infrastructure during the past few decades, he said.

The sustainable development goals are comprehensive and in line with the Kingdom’s outlook for economic and social development up to 2030, he said.

 “Bahrain will continue to implement plans to provide decent living to citizens. It will work with UN member states to take responsibility for implementing the new goals, which will be ratified in the summit,” the Undersecretary said.

UN Resident Editor and UNDP Resident Representative Peter Grohmann said the another agenda of the summit is to redirect the resources to sustainable development. “Each country will set its own goals, within the framework of its own vision. Each country will have to react based on its own ground realities,” he said. 

The proposed agenda for sustainable development consists of 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets. The goals are people-centric and planet sensitive, Peter Grohmann said. 

Over 150 heads of states and governments will attend the summit to formally adopt new sustainable development agenda.